Pubdate: Fri, 01 Dec 2000 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2000 The Dallas Morning News Contact: P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265 Fax: (972) 263-0456 Feedback: http://dmnweb.dallasnews.com/letters/ Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Forum: http://forums.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads.pl Author: Rick D. Day, Executive Director, Texas NORML, Inc., Dallas, Texas GRABBING THE BULGING BALLOON Re: "Study: Teen marijuana use drops but ecstasy experimentation has doubled since 1995 survey finds," The Dallas Morning News, Nov. 27. Your article on teen drug use being down (or was that up?), "Study: Teen marijuana use drops" is typical of what we parents must contend with today. The Office of National Drug Control Policy gamely trumpets tiny 1 percent gains while neglecting to point out this is well within the 4 percent margin of error typical of such studies. Aside from that feeble attempt to shore up their failed payola-for-propaganda campaign, the obvious jumps out: the government's strategy in ending drug use is failing, as usual, and will always fail, no matter how many "feel good" paid public service announcements the government runs. This tactic is like grabbing a balloon and squeezing, no matter how hard you try to bust the balloon, another bulge pops out. Clamp down on pot? Heroin and ecstasy use soars. Do we detect a pattern here (of failure)? Gee, parents, first tar heroin, now ecstasy! Don't you now long for the good old days, when you only had to worry about your kids smoking marijuana? RICK D. DAY, Executive Director, Texas NORML, Inc., Dallas, Texas - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck